Squirt-Attack Robot

Here's your nightly math! Just 5 quick minutes of number fun for kids and parents at home. Read a cool fun fact, followed by math riddles at different levels so everyone can jump in. Your kids will love you for it.

Squirt-Attack Robot

Do you like ketchup on your burger, fries, or hot dog? We’re loving this robot that squirts the ketchup for you. Of course, it would be better if the ketchup landed on the food — and as this video shows, that doesn’t always happen. So how does this robot work? It has sensors that “see” the burger or hot dog, and tell the robot to turn towards it. Then the computer knows to squeeze the two “hands” holding the ketchup bottle. The problem is, the squeezing doesn’t stop fast enough…someone isn’t doing the math right!

Wee ones: If the robot squirts 6 times, what number squirt comes next?

Little kids: The robot tries to squirt ketchup on 1 plate of fries, 1 burger, and 4 hot dogs. How many items is that? Bonus: What if it adds on a plate of fries for each burger and each of the 4 hot dogs? Now how many items get squirted?

Big kids: If the ketchup was supposed to squirt for 4 seconds but squirts for 4 times as long, how many extra seconds does the ketchup squirt? Bonus: If the robot can drive by a row of hot dogs, and squirt 2 hot dogs every second, can it squirt 2 dozen of them in 15 seconds? (Reminder if needed: A dozen equals 12.)

Answers:Wee ones: The 7th squirt.

Little kids: 6 items. Bonus: 11 items, since it has added 5 new ones.

Big kids: 12 extra seconds, since it squirts for 16. Bonus: Yes, because it can squirt 30 hot dogs — even if not very well.

About the Author

Laura Bilodeau Overdeck is founder and president of Bedtime Math Foundation. Her goal is to make math as playful for kids as it was for her when she was a child. Her mom had Laura baking while still in diapers, and her dad had her using power tools at a very unsafe age, measuring lengths, widths and angles in the process. Armed with this early love of numbers, Laura went on to get a BA in astrophysics from Princeton University, and an MBA from the Wharton School of Business; she continues to star-gaze today. Laura’s other interests include her three lively children, chocolate, extreme vehicles, and Lego Mindstorms.